Portable electronic equipment and battery mounting device of the equipment

ABSTRACT

In order to enable both a back lid and a battery of a mobile electronic apparatus to be locked and unlocked with a single motion, the mobile electronic apparatus ( 10 ) in which the battery ( 11 ) is housed by opening the back lid ( 13 ) has such a structure that when a lock member ( 21 ) which is provided in a body of the mobile electronic apparatus so as to slide is slid to a locked position, the lock member ( 21 ) simultaneously locks both an engaging part ( 11   a ) provided in the battery ( 11 ) and an engaging part ( 13   b ) provided in the back lid ( 13 ), and when the lock member ( 21 ) is slid to an unlocked position, the lock member ( 21 ) simultaneously unlocks both the engaging parts ( 11   a,    13   b ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a mobile electronic apparatussuch as a mobile phone set, and more particularly to a batteryinstallation device for detachably installing a battery in the mobileelectronic apparatus, after a lid of the mobile electronic apparatus isopened.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002]FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are views for explaining steps of installing abattery in a conventional battery installation device. A mobile phoneset 1 is so designed that a battery 3 is housed in a battery housingpart 2 provided in an area where a back lid is opened, and then, thebattery housing part is covered with the back lid 4. In the illustratedexample, because the battery 3 is heavy, a projection (not shown)provided at a distal end portion of the battery 3 is inserted (in adirection of an arrow mark A in FIG. 8) into a recess (not shown)provided in a body of the mobile phone set 1 to fix the distal endportion, and then, a rearward portion of the battery 3 is received (in adirection of an arrow mark B in FIG. 9) in the battery housing part 2.Thereafter, by sliding a lock member 5 of a sliding type which isprovided in the body of the mobile phone set 1 in a direction of anarrow mark C in FIG. 9, a projected portion 3 a provided in the rear endportion of the battery 3 (See FIG. 8) is pressed, thereby to lock thebattery 3 to the body of the mobile phone set 1.

[0003] Thereafter, the back lid 4 is fitted (in a direction of an arrowmark D in FIG. 9) to a back side of the body of the mobile phone set 1,and by sliding the back lid 4 with force in a direction of an arrow markE in FIG. 10, retaining pieces 4 a, 4 b which are provided in aprojecting manner at a distal end of the back lid 4 formed of resin areflexed and engaged with engaging recesses 6, 7 in the body of the mobilephone set 1, and the back lid 4 is fixed so as not to be easily detachedfrom the body of the mobile phone set 1.

[0004] In case where the conventional mobile phone set as describedabove is dropped, the battery 3 which is locked will not be detachedfrom the body of the mobile phone set 1. However, the back lid 4 may bedetached from the body of the mobile phone set 1 with a shock of thedrop, because the back lid 4 is simply fitted to the back side of thebody and further, the retaining pieces 4 a, 4 b have been engaged withthe engaging recesses 6, 7. There is such a problem that after the backlid 4 is repeatedly fitted and detached, the above described retainingpieces 4 a, 4 b may be deteriorated, and the back lid 4 will be unableto be fixed to the body of the mobile phone set 1.

[0005] Although this problem can be solved by providing a lock mechanismfor locking the back lid 4 to the body of the mobile phone set 1, itwould be difficult, due to limitations of space, to provide both thelock mechanism for locking the battery 3 and the lock mechanism forlocking the back lid 4 in a small casing of the mobile phone set, andthis will lead to a rise of production cost. There is a further problemthat a work for exchanging the battery is annoying, because the two lockmechanisms must be operated.

[0006] In some of the conventional mobile phone set, the back lid isprovided with the lock mechanism, and the battery is simply incorporatedin the body of the mobile phone set 1. However, such a state that theheavy battery is not locked inside the body of the mobile phone set mayhave a detrimental effect on reliability of the mobile phone set, andmay be unfavorable.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a batteryinstallation device which can lock both a back lid and a battery bymeans of a single operating member, and a mobile electronic apparatusprovided with the same.

[0008] The mobile electronic apparatus and its battery installationdevice which can attain the above described object are characterized byhaving such a structure that on occasion of housing the battery byopening a lid, when a lock member which is provided in a body of themobile electronic apparatus so as to slide is slid to a locked position,the aforesaid lock member locks both an engaging part provided in theaforesaid battery and an engaging part provided in the aforesaid lid.According to this structure, the lock of the battery and the lock of thelid can be operated by means of a single operating member.

[0009] Preferably, the aforesaid lock member is characterized by havingsuch a structure that the lock member simultaneously locks both theengaging part provided in the aforesaid battery and the engaging partprovided in the aforesaid lid, when the lock member is slid to theaforesaid locked position, and simultaneously unlocks both the aforesaidengaging parts, when the lock member is slid to an unlocked position.According to this structure, it will be possible to perform both thelocking operations with a single motion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile phone set provided with abattery installation device according to an embodiment of the invention,showing a state in which the battery is being installed after a back lidis removed.

[0011]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mobile phone set provided withthe battery installation device according to the embodiment of theinvention, showing a state in which the back lid is being attached.

[0012]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mobile phone set provided withthe battery installation device according to the embodiment of theinvention, showing a state in which the back lid is attached.

[0013]FIG. 4(a) is a back view of the mobile phone set in an unlockedposition of the battery installation device according to the embodimentof the invention.

[0014]FIG. 4(b) is a sectional view of the mobile phone set in theunlocked position of the battery installation device according to theembodiment of the invention.

[0015]FIG. 5(a) is a back view of the mobile phone set in a lockedposition of the battery installation device according to the embodimentof the invention.

[0016]FIG. 5(b) is a sectional view of the mobile phone set in thelocked position of the battery installation device according to theembodiment of the invention.

[0017]FIG. 6 is an exploded view showing a state in which a slide pieceis detached from the mobile phone set provided with the batteryinstallation device according to the embodiment of the invention.

[0018]FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of an essential part showing the statein which the slide piece is detached from the mobile phone set providedwith the battery installation device according to the embodiment of theinvention.

[0019]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional mobile phone setshowing a state in which a battery is being installed after a back lidis removed.

[0020]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the conventional mobile phone setshowing a state in which the back lid is being fitted after the batteryis installed.

[0021]FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the conventional mobile phone setshowing the state in which the back lid is being fixed.

[0022] It is to be noted that reference numeral 10 in the drawings is amobile phone set, 11 is a battery, 11 a is an engaging projection, 12 isa battery housing part, 13 is a back lid, 13 b is an engagingprojection, 18 is a case, 18 a and 18 b are retaining parts, 20 is abattery installation device, 21 is a slide piece, 22 and 23 are railpieces, 24 and 25 are channels, 26 is a locked position retaininggroove, 27 is an unlocked position retaining groove, 28 is an upperplate, 29 is a lower plate, 29 a is an elastic piece, 29 b is anengaging projection, and 29 c and 29 d are retaining projections.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0023] Now, an embodiment of the present invention will be describedreferring to the drawings.

[0024]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile phone set provided with abattery installation device according to the embodiment of theinvention, showing a state in which a battery is being inserted in abattery housing part after a back lid is removed. The body of the mobilephone set 10 in this embodiment is provided on its back side with arecess (not shown) into which a projection (not shown) provided at adistal end of the battery 11 is adapted to be inserted. By inserting theprojection at the distal end of the battery 11 into this recess, andtilting a rear end of the battery 11 in a direction of an arrow mark F,the battery 11 is housed in a battery housing part 12 in the mobilephone set 10.

[0025] In a rear end portion of the battery 11 to which the presentembodiment is applied, an engaging projection 11 a to be locked isprovided in a projecting manner. Moreover, the mobile phone set 10 isprovided, on a back side of its rear end portion, with a batteryinstallation device 20, particulars of which will be described below.

[0026]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mobile phone set provided withthe battery installation device according to the embodiment of theinvention, showing a state in which the back lid is being attached. Ashas already been described referring to FIG. 1, after the battery 11 isinstalled on the back side of the mobile phone set 10, a projectionprovided in a distal end of the back lid 13, which is not shown, isinserted into a recess (not shown) provided in the mobile phone set, andthe back lid 13 is tilted in a direction of an arrow mark G, so that theback lid 13 is tightly fitted to the back side of the body of the mobilephone set 10.

[0027] At a rear end portion of the back lid 13 to which the presentembodiment is applied, there are formed a dented part 13 a for receivinga slide piece 21 which constitutes a lock member of the batteryinstallation device 20, particulars of which will be described below,and an engaging projection 13 b to be locked which is protruded rearwardinside this dented part 13 a. This engaging projection 13 b is providedat a position overlying on the engaging projection 11 a of the battery11.

[0028]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mobile phone set provided withthe battery installation device according to the embodiment of theinvention, showing a state in which both the back lid and the batteryhave been simultaneously locked with a single motion. After the back lid13 is tightly fitted to the back side of the mobile phone 10 as isdescribed referring to FIG. 2, by pushing the slide piece 21 of thebattery installation device 20 in a direction of an arrow mark H, theslide piece 21 simultaneously locks the engaging projection 11 a of thebattery 11 and the engaging projection 13 b of the back lid 13, as willbe described below in detail.

[0029] Then, referring to FIGS. 4 through 7, particulars of the batteryinstallation device 20 will be described. FIG. 4(a) is a back view ofthe rear end portion of the mobile phone set 10 in a state where theslide piece 21 is in an unlocked position (lock released position), FIG.4(b) is a sectional view taken along a line IVB-IVB of FIG. 4(a). FIG.5(a) is a back view of the rear end portion of the mobile phone set 10in a state where the slide piece 21 is in a locked position, and FIG.5(b) is a sectional view taken along a line VB-VB of FIG. 5(a). FIG. 6is an exploded view showing a state in which the slide piece 21 isdetached from the back side of the body of the mobile phone set 10 (Botha front side and a back side of the slide piece 21 are illustrated).FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of an essential part of FIG. 6 (with anenlarged view of the back side of the slide piece 21).

[0030] The battery installation device 20 in this embodiment includestwo rail pieces 22, 23 having a T-shape in cross section (See FIGS. 6and 7) which are provided in a projecting manner on a back side of arear end portion of a case 18 made of ABS resin, for example. The slidepiece 21 is formed of polyacetal resin, for example, and provided withchannels 24, 25 having a T-shape in cross section with which the abovementioned rail pieces 22, 23 are adapted to be engaged. In a state wherethe slide piece 21 is mounted on the rail pieces 22, 23, the slide piece21 is attached so as to slide in a direction along the rail pieces 22,23 (in a direction of an arrow mark H in FIG. 3), and so as not to bewithdrawn from the rail pieces 22, 23 (A structure for restraining theslide piece 21 from being withdrawn will be described below).

[0031] Although the slide piece 21 is allowed to slide in the directionalong the rail pieces 22, 23, a locked position retaining groove 26 andan unlocked position retaining groove 27 are provided between the railpiece 22 and the rail piece 23 of the case 18, for the purpose ofretaining the slide piece 21 at the two positions, namely, the lockedposition and the unlocked position.

[0032] The slide piece 21 has two plates, namely, an upper plate 28 anda lower plate 29 (See FIGS. 4, 5 and 7). An elastic piece 29 a of acantilever type is formed in the lower plate 29 by forming a cut-in 30in a C-shape, and at an underside of a distal end of this elastic piece29 a, a projection 29 b which is adapted to be elastically engaged withthe above mentioned locked position retaining groove 26 and the unlockedposition retaining groove 27 is provided in a projecting manner.

[0033] Opposite ends of the lower plate 29 of the slide piece 21 arerespectively provided with retaining projections 29 c, 29 d. When thisslide piece 21 which is attached to the rail pieces 22, 23 tends to movein a direction away from the mobile phone set 10 beyond the unlockedposition, these retaining projections 29 c, 29 d interfere withretaining parts 18 a, 18 b which are provided in the case 18 of themobile phone set 10, so as to restrain the slide piece 21 from beingwithdrawn. These retaining parts 18 a, 18 b are in such a shape thatthey are slightly projected upwardly (toward the back lid) in order toensure the retaining projections 29 c, 29 d to be retained, even thoughthe slide piece 21 is flexed with a strong force.

[0034] When the slide piece 21 is pushed into the locked position, anend of the lower plate 29 of the slide piece 21 adjacent to the battery11 presses an upper face side (the back lid side) of the engagingprojection 11 a of the battery 11 thereby to lock the battery 11, andsimultaneously, an end of the upper plate 28 of the slide piece 21adjacent to the battery 11 presses an upper face side of the engagingprojection 13 b of the back lid 13 thereby to lock the back lid 13. Theupper face of the upper plate 28 is formed on the same plane as thefront face of the back lid 13, and at the same time, provided with adent 28 a so as to be hooked with a finger nail, in order to bring theslide piece 21 into the unlocked position.

[0035] When the battery 11 is to be exchanged in the mobile phone set 10provided with the battery installation device 20 having the abovedescribed structure, the finger nail is hooked on an end of the dent 28a of the upper plate 28 of the slide piece 21 in a state as shown inFIG. 5, and the slide piece 21 is withdrawn away from the battery 11.With this motion, the projection 29 b at the distal end of the elasticpiece 29 a is detached from the groove 26 and moves toward the groove 27to be brought into a retained state at this position. Even though theslide piece 21 is forced to be withdrawn beyond this position, the slidepiece 21 is unable to be withdrawn, since the projections 29 c, 29 dprojecting from both sides of the slide piece 21 will strike theretaining parts 18 a, 18 b of the case 18.

[0036] In this state, the engagement between the upper plate 28 of theslide piece 21 and the engaging projection 13 b of the back lid 13 isreleased, and at the same time, the engagement between the lower plate29 of the slide piece 21 and the engaging projection 11 a of the battery11 is released. Accordingly, it will be possible to easily detach theback lid 13 and the battery 11 from the mobile phone set 10.

[0037] After the battery 11 is exchanged, a new battery 11 and the backlid 13 are attached as is described referring to FIGS. 1 and 2. In thismanner, the state as shown in FIG. 4 will be attained. In this state,when the slide piece 21 is pushed in to approach the battery 11, theprojection 29 b at the distal end of the elastic piece 29 a of the slidepiece 21 is detached from the groove 27 and moves toward the groove 26to be brought into the retained state at this position. This is thestate which is shown in FIG. 5, and the battery 11 and the back lid 13are simultaneously brought into the locked state with a single motion ofthe slide piece 21. This locked state will never be released with ashock of such an extent that the mobile phone set 10 is dropped.

[0038] As described above, in the mobile phone set provided with thebattery installation device in the present embodiment, the battery andthe back lid can be simultaneously locked and unlocked by means of thesame slide piece with a single motion. Consequently, the reliability ofthe mobile phone set can be enhanced at a low cost, and at the sametime, the battery installation device can be mounted in a small space.

[0039] Further, although the projections 11 a, 13 b as the parts to belocked are provided on the battery and the back lid, it would bepossible to lock the battery and the back lid 13, by providing recessesinstead of the projections as the parts to be locked, and by providingprojections to be engaged with these recesses on the slide piece 21.

[0040] Although the present invention is described in detail referringto the specified embodiment, it would be apparent to those skilled inthe art that various changes and modifications can be added to theinvention, without departing from spirit and scope of the invention.

[0041] The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application(Application No. 2001-279870) filed on Sep. 14, 2001, the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0042] <Industrial Applicability>

[0043] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide thebattery installation device which can lock and unlock both the batteryand the back lid by means of a single operating member, at a low cost,and with saving of space.

1. A mobile electronic apparatus in which a battery is housed by opening a lid, characterized by having such a structure that: when a lock member which is provided in a body of said mobile electronic apparatus so as to slide is slid to a locked position, said lock member locks both an engaging part provided in said battery and an engaging part provided in said lid.
 2. The mobile electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized by having such a structure that: said lock member simultaneously locks both the engaging part provided in said battery and the engaging part provided in said lid when said lock member is slid to said locked position; and said lock member simultaneously unlocks both the engaging parts when said lock member is slid to said unlocked position.
 3. A battery installation device for a mobile electronic apparatus in which a battery is housed by opening a lid, characterized by having such a structure that: when a lock member which is provided in a body of said mobile electronic apparatus so as to slide is slid to a locked position, said lock member locks both an engaging part provided in said battery and an engaging part provided in said lid.
 4. The battery installation device of a mobile electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized by having such a structure that: said lock member simultaneously locks both the engaging part provided in said battery and the engaging part provided in said lid when said lock member is slid to said locked position; and said lock member simultaneously unlocks both the engaging parts when said lock member is slid to said unlocked position. 